Working Ranch Magazine March/April 2025

(RIGHT) In 2023 the 88 Ranch was ranked 12th in the nation as owners and breeders of Dams of Merit and Dams of Distinction in the American Gelbvieh Association (AGA) ranch, Craig and Valerie settled on 88 Ranch because Valerie had purchased her first registered pair in 1988 and the number 8 was a favorite for both of them. “We considered incorporat ing the Livingston name,” Valerie says. “But decided if we had daugh ters who changed their last names through marriage and no sons, that wouldn’t work the best.” Since building their cow/calf oper ation took both of them working side by side, Craig and Valerie knew it would be wise to postpone having children for a time. “We knew money would be tight, so we delayed having a family for about eight years,” Valerie says. “We had a great eight years, enjoying working and playing together, just having fun. Cadrien was our first child in 1998, and then another 8 years passed when God blessed us with a second daugh ter, Carlee Jo. We were greatly sur prised when, about 18 months later, Cassie came along.” A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY But the Livingston family’s lives, and their dreams, were rocked to the core on April 29, 2008, when Craig was fatally engulfed in corn inside a grain bin. Valerie and Craig’s mother were in nearby O’Neill, taking Craig and Valerie’s two-week-old daughter for her newborn visit at the clinic. “Craig’s mother and I were just walking out of a store in O’Neill when we heard the sirens,” Valerie says. “My thought was I hoped I had remembered to turn the coffee pot off before we came to town.” When they reached the 88 Ranch driveway, Valerie saw a neighbor’s vehicle parked by the front door. The neighbor was visually shaken when she came running out of the house to hand Valerie the phone. An emergency responder instructed her to return to O’Neill and meet them at the hospital. “I immediately thought something must have happened with Craig’s dad,” Valerie says. “He was in his 80s at the time. But in just a few seconds I learned that it was Craig who had the

emergency.” The day before the tragedy, Craig and Valerie had discussed his plan to lease a grain vac to vacuum the remaining corn out of a grain bin and onto a semi-truck since the bin auger had stopped working. It was the first time they had contracted corn for a specific delivery date. They had one day left to meet their deadline. Neither of them had any experience with a grain vac and Valerie was hop ing Craig didn’t have to get inside the cone-shaped bin with the equipment. Unfortunately, that didn’t go as hoped. “I remember Craig talked about how he had to hold the heavy vacuum hose just above the level of the corn to suck it up, and how his arms ached from holding it,” Valerie says. “We don’t know exactly what happened. If he fell into a hollow pocket within the corn and became submerged or some thing else went wrong. The only other person at the site was the truck driver, who had stepped away for a few min utes to move the truck ahead so they could finish clearing the bin.” When the driver returned to the bin, all he could see was Craig’s hand sticking up out of the grain. The driver frantically attempted to pull grain away from Craig’s face, tying a handkerchief over Craig’s face to help protect him while he called for help. Unfortunately, even though emer gency responders from nearby Page (10 miles) arrived within 10 minutes, the department didn’t have the necessary grain rescue tube and had never been trained on using a tube or rescuing

anyone from grain entrapment. Since the grain vac wasn’t working, rescuers had to remove grain one bucket at a time, and Craig didn’t survive. “I still remember so well the morning we lost Dad,” Cadrien says. “Dad always read daily devotions with me before I headed out the door to get on the school bus. That morning, I had an Eggo waf fle as he read. When I headed out the door, he said, ‘See you tonight.’ While a friend drove me to the hospital that day, I prayed all the way. At the time, I couldn’t have understood all the things about our lives that would change.” TREMULOUS STEPS As the reality and ramifications of their loss settled on Valerie, she knew she had much to consider and many decisions to make as she walked into the future with her three daughters. “My mom is the bravest person I know,” Cadrien says. “Four days after we lost Dad, Mom and I sat down at the kitchen table. I was just 10. But Mom didn’t want to decide the future without asking my thoughts. She explained to me that we had to make some decisions.” Valerie told her young daughter that they had some options. They could remain on the ranch, or sell it, move to town, and get a job. As Cadrien spoke with her mother, she was certain she knew which option she wanted to select. “I knew I wanted my sisters to have the same opportunities I had to grow up and enjoy ranch life,” Cadrien says. “It was important to me that they had a MARCH 2025 I 59